RAMS REACH MOUNTAINTOP
Unsung heroes help DePaul Prep win program’s first title
CHAMPAIGN — While DePaul Prep waited for star juniors Jaylan McElroy and Payton Kamin to get healthy, an unheralded group of players kept the team heading in the right direction and prepared for success when all the pieces were in place.
Senior Maurice Thomas, junior PJ Chambers and sophomore Makai Kvamme didn’t recede from the spotlight when McElroy and Kamin returned last month. The trio became key players on a team destined for the Class 2A state championship.
“It means everything,” Thomas said. “We put the hard work in. This is a younger group. It was my job to mentor them and take them under my wing.”
Kvamme ran the show, Thomas and Chambers scored and all three defended well as the Rams knocked off Bloomington Central Catholic 65-41 in the 2A title game Saturday at State Farm Center.
It’s the first state championship for DePaul Prep (23-12), which finished third in Class 2A in 2022 and 2019. The Rams lost the Class AA title game to King in 1990 when the school was known as Gordon Tech.
DePaul Prep led 28-19 at halftime and dominated the third quarter, limiting the Saints (26-12) to just five points and two baskets. The Rams led 42-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
Thomas scored 24 points. McElroy, an athletic 6-7 forward, added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Chambers had 11 points and five boards.
“After a tough loss to a team from Michigan earlier this season, we had a player-led meeting and said we aren’t going out like last year,” Thomas said.
The future is bright for DePaul Prep, which starts three juniors and a sophomore. The Rams will move up to Class 3A next year because of the Illinois High School Association’s success-factor rule.
Bloomington Central Catholic junior Cole Certa was the highestrated prospect at the state finals. The 6-5 guard led the Saints with 18 points. He shot 4-for-13 from three-point range.
“I have to get bigger and stronger and faster and just keep working hard,” Certa said.
Bloomington Central Catholic won the Class 2A championship in 2014 and finished third in 2018.
Gibault wins 1A
The small schools opened Championship Saturday with a show.
Gibault and Scales Mound played a scintillating third quarter that featured 36 points and eight three-pointers.
The Hawks stayed pretty much that hot for most of the game, shooting 61% from the field and 64% from three to win the Class 1A title 65-45.
It’s the first state championship for Gibault (32-7), a school outside St. Louis, and the first in the 43year career of coach Dennis Rueter.
“My career wouldn’t have been incomplete [without a state title],” Rueter said. “We’ve had a lot of good things happen. This is just icing on the cake.”
Rueter is the ninth-winningest coach in state history with more than 800 victories.
Scales Mound is a village of 436 in northwestern Illinois, 11 miles east of Galena. The high school has just 70 students. That’s small for even a Class 1A school. The Hornets lost in the semifinals last season.
Kaden Augustine led the Hawks with 24 points. Kameron Hanvey added four points, nine rebounds and five steals.
Gavin Kesler had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Hudson Blank had 15 points.
“We worked so hard for this,” Augustine said. “To actually come true, I can’t believe it.”
Gibault finished second in Class A in 1999, losing to Rock Falls on a late three-pointer.
Junior Thomas Hereau led Scales Mound (33-6) with 24 points. He shot 5-for-7 from threepoint range.